Which free agents are out there still that could by their addition level the playing field with the Cubs, that could be a possible bargain?

I can only think of one, Ben Sheets.

Hudson is still out there, he would help a bit but I dont think this team will bring him in at any cost with the Kennedy situation.

Wolf, isnt as good as Sheets and has a worse injury history.

Garland, had a great year a couple years ago but still not a great pitcher. Looper had a better year last year than him. I believe Looper had an average Garland year last year (unless im mistaken).

Oliver Perez is still out there, this guy is a complete wild card. He has stuff, he is the right age…
but im scared to death of this guy.
I think he just has something wrong with him that will never be fixed like Kip Wells.

I think we have a good chance at getting a good LHRP though for cheap.

It looks like once again we are counting on Carp being the difference maker. Maybe he will, maybe he wont. I do tend to think he will come back this year

but Its just a bad policy. How many years did the Cubs waste on Prior and Wood, how many did we on Mulder and Carp?

I mean I think the Cards will get a bargain, but beggars cant be chosers either. I think we get stuck with some cheap crud and finish 2nd.

The cubs won 97 games last yeare, 11 more than the Cardinals. And spent quite a bit this offseason. If you think Ben Sheets puts us on par with the Cubs you are drinking some serious Kool-Aid. They have a good team and a massive homefield advantage.

We are playing for the wild card, forget about the Cubs.

You mean to tell me that the GM of an MLB team knows more about the business than the fan? Maybe someone should swing by Bernie’s Pressbox or Cards Talk and tell some of the fans lined up on the ledge that. I’m just sayin…

The Cubs have a “home field advantage”? Seriously, where do you people come up with this stuff?

55-26 vs 42-38

I’m too lazy to find the offensive stats for home and away. But I hope you were being sarcastic.

“perhaps general manager John Mozeliak has a much better read on this than the average fan”……….I mean, really, need we say any more? This is the comment of the offseason. Hopeful the “average fan” will read this and get it into their brain.

I really enjoyed da birds last year until they got that thing from washington.he sucked so bad I cant even remember his name.

gee..does mo know more than the average cardinal fan? pretty sure he does. i’m a big cards fan, share season tix w/ friends, always will be a cards fan. but man, our fans, while great, seem to lose their mind during the winter. maybe it is b/c rams are terrible, blues are terrible, and the weather is terrible that we have to lose it… cards had a rough one last year, stinks, so be it. they make the playoffs more than they don’t and have been to 2 world series in 5 years and won 1 of them. they’re fun, they contend, and they make a run at it each year. enjoy it guys, don’t cry about it!

I think the Cards will draw 3 million for two reasons. The ALL STAR game and Albert Pujols. If they contend all year they will draw 3.5 million and maybe more. There will be nothing sweeter to a cards fan than beating out the favored Cubbies for the division title after all the millions they spilled into that club to make them one of the teams picked to win it all.

It’s fine if the club wants to wait it out, but they better come out of this waiting with something really good to show for it. Maybe there aren’t a ton of teams fighting for the same player, but it only takes ONE. Hopefully MO has a better cell phone connection than I do—-I don’t want to see things start to fall like domminoes and the Cardinals be on the short end of it all. It’s pretty easy for a fair offer to be made and some weary player just tell their agent to go with it, they’re tired of waiting. So what if you can build a All-Star lineup with the free agents that are left! WE’RE NOT SIGNING A WHOLE SQUAD. WE’RE NOT AN EXPANSION TEAM LOOKING FOR BUILD SOMETHING. WE NEED 1 TO 3 MORE GUYS. THE NEEDS ARE VERY SPECIFIC—-STARTER, CLOSER, AND MAYBE 2ND. That All-Star list of 20 or 30 guys quickly dwindles to 6 or 7 guys to fill the needs of this club. Take away at least 3 or 4 of those who (believe it or not…might not want to play for the Cardinals/LaRussa/Midwest/OR WHO WILL STILL COST TOO MUCH/pick your reason). Now you’re down to maybe 2 or 3 guys. IT DOESN’T LEAVE NEARLY AS MUCH ROOM FOR ERROR AS THE KOOL-AID DRINKING/CARDINAL TEET-SUCKAS WANT TO ACT LIKE. If this wait-and-see approach backfires, it will cost this organization MILLIONS of $$$$$.

Ok, now I’ve seen it twice on this website, so thought I’d point out that

it’s CLAMOR not CLAMMER.

That is all.

Maybe someone who is a little more capable than I am, can do a little math: PLAYOFFS vs. SITTING AT HOME. My twisted mind would think that making the playoffs would be very beneficial to a club’s bottom line. Extra ticket sales, concessions, public image/brand name/souvenirs. I want to go on record as stating that I actually really like what the organization is doing as a whole. I like the moves that MO HAS MADE. I appreciate with all of my Cardinal-red-blood what the ownership and management has provided Cardinal Nation with over the past 10 years or so. I don’t want to bash, but it was a terrible mistake not to get someone to help this club make a playoff push last year when it clearly was in contention and needed help. It’s INEXCUSEABLE not to address the needs that the club still has! YOU’VE BEEN HANDED A GIFT–THE SAME PLAYERS YOU CONVETED LAST SEASON BUT MADE EXUSE AFTER EXCUSE AS TO WHY YOU COULDN’T OR WOULDN’T MAKE A DEAL FOR HAVE FALLEN IN YOUR LAP AT WHAT IS LIKELY LESS MONEY THAN YOU COULD HAVE IMAGINED—YET YOU WANT TO WAIT IT OUT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! The ownership group says they depend on the revenue from the gate—yes times are tough and you will probably see a dropoff in ticket sales/concessions/etc, but if you put another 4th place team out there without addressing the most pressing needs the club has admitted it has—YOU WILL SEE A BACKLASH FROM CARDINAL NATION LIKE YOU NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED. You think it’s risky to sign a quality reliever for $5-7 million a year to try and bring home a “W”? TRY LOSING 5 TO 7 MILLION midwest-fattened-behinds GOING THROUGH YOUR TURNSTILES AT ABOUT $50 A POP.

Meant to type “coveted”…players the team inquired about last year

By the way…if the Cardinal brass would like to hire me after displaying my logic and brilliance, feel free to leave me a post with a way to reach you and I will prove my identity to you. I’m available immediately, being I’m now unemployed and trying to figure out where my slim entertainment dollar will be spent.

“Screeching” is definitely the operative word. After you hear the word “kool-aid” screeched so many times, it just gets sad.

the birds wrote: “The cubs won 97 games last yeare, 11 more than the Cardinals. And spent quite a bit this offseason. If you think Ben Sheets puts us on par with the Cubs you are drinking some serious Kool-Aid. They have a good team and a massive homefield advantage.

We are playing for the wild card, forget about the Cubs.
”

I kind of disagree.
Sheets, a better pen, and some contribution from Carp I think does close the gap. Especially if Soto, Dempster come back down to earth, plus their closing situation looks to be worse.

I mentioned the economy a couple times on these ‘comments’ pages and I will reiterate - it is going to trash everyone’s expectations. I happen to believe that Mr. DeWitt is playing this very smart. It could very well be that one or two MLB franchises fold as a result of this economy - presuming that the Pirates and Marlins don’t qualify for TARP money. Don’t spend a lot of money this year guys - keep your powder dry not only for cheaper free agents next year, but, perhaps, whole rosters.

PS - Does the PD need a new server? It seems every time I bounce around between articles on the Cardinals my Explorer crashes. Talk about doing so needed investing guys ….

Glad somebody mentioned the problems with the website. I can’t even use Firefox as my browser when I am going to go to this website because it freezes my computer every time. What’s going on? My husband is a programmer and he says this site is a disaster. He hates it that I even get on here because of the problems it can cause. Maybe your IT people there at the P-D should go over the website and see if they can make it less graphics heavy and figure out why it freezes or crashes people’s computers. It would be greatly appreciated, esp. by those of us out-of-staters who depend upon the P-D for Cardinals news.

I use a mac and safari and every time I exit the site, I have to close about fifteen advertising screens that pop up behind the screen I’m using. If I don’t close them out, the computer runs much slower. This never happened with the old site.
As for the cards, no one wants leftovers.

If the economy has affected the way teams pursue free agents, there’s no way the Cardinals should think they are going to be among the few trying to sign free agents in February at lower prices. The fan base is being critical mainly because management told the fan base they were going to approach the off-season in an aggressive and creative manner, which signals that they are going to move quickly on free agency and trades, and then make nearly a 180 on that and then appear to remain seated.

the cards every year have sat on their wallets and not improved the team ….this team will do no better than last year , even if carpenter is healthy. they over achieved last year….ludwick will never match last years numbers … 85-86 wins tops …. battle for second and no playoffs again

I dont believe a word Mozeilak says anymore. He has been lying to us ever since the offseason started just to put money in Dewitts wallet. Hes a loser that drives me absolutley insane when I hear him talk. He cant possibly say this team is better than last year by adding a .213 hitter an injury prone 35 year old lefty and a lefty with a 8.46 ERA. Let me just say this when the prices for FA goes down even more, still, dont even think Sheets or Hudson or even Garland. Think Benson. Then were just gonna get the excuses on why we didnt get the good FA.